Barbie I Can Be - what will you dream?

It is a great time to be a girl!

I am a Mom to two very strong, smart and inspiring little girls. When I look at them I see all that is possible for them and for the world. They can be anything they want to be and because they are young they still believe that they can be anything. Children see all the possibilities of the world. Just today I had a conversation with my 6 year old daughter about this very topic. We were in the car and a Justin Bieber song came on the radio. My daughter said to me "You know Mom lots of people make fun of Justin Bieber. Why do they do that?" I told her sometimes people are jealous of all he has accomplished and the success he has had. My daughter then said to me "You know Mom they don't have to be that way. If they worked hard they could be anything they want to be. It just takes hard work and practice. Anything is possible if they just put their minds to it" Wow wise words for someone so young. It left me feeling so proud of my daughter. That is one of the many special things about childhood, children see the possibilities in life. Anything is possible for a child and you know they are right. It is only when we grow up and start to let other people tell us what is possible and not possible we start to believe that we can not dream of being anything we want to be.

I try every day to show my girls - not just tell them - you can do or be anything you want or dream. I am a journalist, a writer. It is something I have wanted to do and be for a long time. As a child I remember spending hours writing short stories and poems on sheets of lined paper. I loved writing essays, loved doing it so much I would spend spare periods and lunch breaks in the cafeteria helping my friends write their essays. I not only work in news but I also write freelance magazine articles. I am doing something I love. I want my girls to see anything is possible if you set your mind to it.

I want my girls to know that they can do anything and everything they want to do. It might take hard work and perseverance but they can live their dreams. I want them to love what they do, no matter what it is.

I was lucky to have grown up with the best parents in the world. My Mom was always there for me... is still there for me no matter what I need. She was the best role model a little girl could have. She taught me about patience, love, understanding, strength, joy, and about being the best you can be. My Dad was also a great support. He raised me to be strong and smart and to believe I could do anything I wanted. He never treated me like I couldn't do anything. He supported me in school and in sports. Both my parents still support me and are my biggest cheerleaders. They taught me how to be a good parent. It is the lessons I learned from them that I am passing on to my girls. The love and support of family is the most important thing for girls. Family anchors us, it supports us, it holds us up, it pushes us on, it cheers us on, it drives us, it tells us we can dream and loves us enough so that we can be anything we want to be.

 It is important for all of us to support girls and show them anything is possible. Barbie I Can Be is a great campaign helping to support girls and all they are dreaming to be. Check out the new website www.bethevoice.ca ( I love this name...we need to be the voice and give our girls a voice and help them to use their voice to be heard). It is dedicated to helping moms raise smarter, stronger, happier, and more fulfilled daughters. Join the conversation on the site. Leading Canadian parenting coach, Terry Carson, www.theparentingcoach.ca, will provide perspectives, wisdom, and experiences.


  Disclosure – I am participating in the Barbie I Can Be campaign by Mom Central Canada on behalf of Mattel Canada. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Inspiring Story - a must watch

I noticed this video after a facebook friend posted it. This is such an inspiring story. It made me cry tears of joy as I watched it. I just reminding me of some of the smallest joys can have the most meaning. This just shows how important passion is in your life. This young man is passionate about basketball and through persistence, hard work and the sheer love of the game paid off. This is just sheer joy to me. It is about sheer bliss. How does this make you feel?

Wordless Wednesday - Butterflies

Halloween

My kids and I love Halloween. Our Halloween is more fun than scary and spooky. We always pick fun costumes. This year the kids have decided on Smurfette and a leopard (that is what they have decided so far there is still lots of time to change their minds)

The beauty of the costumes they have picked this year is that they hark en back to my childhood. When I was a little girl one Halloween my mom made me a Smurfette costume. A white felt hat with blonde braids and a white felt dress just like Smurfettes. I wore a blue shirt and pants and I was transformed into Smurfette. I was just a little bit older than my youngest daughter. My oldest daughter is going to be a leopard. The leopard costume is very special. It was made by my mother about 45 years ago...maybe even longer. She made the costume for herself and a matching one for my dad one year for a neighbourhood Halloween party.

Halloween is a special day that we share with our entire family. It is fun to have costumes that are home made, made with love from my mother. The special touch that my mother puts on costumes every year makes every Halloween memorable for my children and for me. I have very special memories of  Halloween when I was a little girl, trick or treating with my brother and sister and all our friends. We would take our pillow cases and trick or treat until they were full. We went for blocks and blocks and blocks. I remember when my Dad would be at the door and make kids do tricks for their candy. He would make them sing or dance or tell a joke before he would hand over the candy. I think Halloween was as much fun for him as it was for all of us. That is what I hope that my husband and I are giving to our children. They are kids for such a short amount of time and there is nothing better than loading them up with as many special childhood memories as we can, we try to load them up with the memories that will last them a lifetime.

Of course, what would Halloween be without the pumpkin. We like to do this one as a family. We like to get our pumpkins from one of the local farms, like Springridge Farm, and then we plan and create our Jack-o-lantern as a family. The kids work with their very artistic Dad and craft a scary face. Once they have their design sorted out the kids get to do what they think is the best part: digging out the pumpkin guts. They love to stick their hands inside the belly of the pumpkin and pull out the guts, the seeds and the gunk. They do it with glee. We always roast the pumpkin seeds more out of tradition than anything else because even with a generous helping of salt the kids still don't like to eat roasted pumpkin seeds. Now to the cutting, it is done with great precision and finally the Jack-o-lantern is complete and takes it spot on the porch.

And then there is the matter of the candy. There can be a lot of debate about what to hand out. This year we are gladly handing out a great assortment of candy from Allan Candy.

Some tasty facts about Allan Candy Company:

-       Allan Candy Company is a Canadian company and all of their Halloween Candy is proudly made in Canada
-       Allan Candy Company is now celebrating its 77th year and their iconic Big Foot brand has been around for more than 25 years.
-       Peanut Free and the tasty Halloween line-up includes: Allan Intense Jubes & Jellies, Allan Chewy Rascalz and Allan Fruit Buddies.  You’ll find these selections at key retailers, including Wal-Mart and Loblaws.

I admit when I got the candy I dipped into the supply. I had to. Someone need to taste test to make sure that it was all as sweet as it looked!




Disclosure – I am participating in the Allan Candy Company program by Mom Central Canada.  I received compensation for my participation in this campaign.  The opinions on this blog are my own.

My Bliss List

I have decided to make a  list... it is really a pledge. A pledge I am making to myself, with myself about living a live of Bliss, living a Blissful life. As part of that I am making a Bliss List... rather than a Bucket List. I want to focus on life rather than death.

Here are first of many entries on my Bliss List...many more to come, both big and small. 

The Bliss List

1. Love myself everyday! I am going to do something special, big or small, for myself every single day. I want to make myself feel special so that I can spread that feeling of feeling special to others.

2. I will kiss my kids everyday and tell them and all the over people in my life that I love them.

Morning Mayhem

OK. Come on you have done it too. You had one of those mornings, you know exactly what I am talking about, and you rushed the kids off to school still wearing you P.J's. Or forgot to brush your hair. Just remember hats are your friends. I have done it way too often. Actually, I can admit it I do it every day. There I said it.  Admitting it is half the battle... right?


So tell me your stories. How do you dress for school drop off? Would love to hear all your great stories.

ps... I promise to be brave enough to take a video of me in the morning, during school drop off. Are you brave enough to do the same?

Love this song - it brings me peace

I love listening to this song. Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy. What music brings you peace?

My First Vlog - Halloween & Mom Central Canada

So this if my first attempt at a video post. Not sure I am used to seeing and hearing myself. And I certainly don't like the freeze frame of this video but I am proud of myself for doing it and actually uploading this video. I have wanted to do this for a long time but for some reason I just didn't get around to doing it.

I look forward to hearing your feedback and I look forward to posting more videos in the future.

Three Things I Learned About Parenting Today

Everyday I realise that being a parent is a learning process. I learn something new from my children everyday. I think of these as life's lessons of an awesome life. Sometimes I think we let the junk of life, of everyday life, get in the way of seeing these lessons of an awesome life. I have been thinking a lot about this lately. So I wanted to start writing down the awesome things I learn from my kids each and every day. Children are great teachers.... they see the beauty in life, life is fun and exciting for them and everything is new for them

So I reached out to some of my twitter friends and asked them what 3 things they learned from their kids today or things they learned as a parent ( Friday). Here are their answers

@SmittySmiles  ... as a parent...listen...listen...listen

@susanotkids 1.rainy mornings are difficult for kids (and parents) to get up 2. make a plan but always in pencil 3. it would be dull without kids :)

@Mumitude there's a moment when you can see that your hard work is paying off, it's ok to let them go, and they're always your baby (*to put it in context, dd16 had first driving lesson 2night. Then I dropped her at the mall with her friends, then we snuggled)

My (@Imfreckles) three things were laugh, relax and have fun no matter what

I think as we grow up we forget the beauty of being a child and living life with the outlook of a child. They see the beauty and fun of everyday, they truly know how to have fun, to dream with an abundant amount of imagination and think that life is never ending and full of limitless possibilities. Every day I am going to work to living a life with those childlike possibilities. We can learn so much from our children and part of that is learning to let children be children and learning to live in, around and with the beauty of our children

Wordless Wednesday

Just a snap shot

Wordless Wednesday - Elora

Beautiful ruins of an old mill in Elora

Joe Jonas!

I just got the chance to meet Joe Jonas tonight... I took this picture for my girls. He was in the building promoting his new album.